Annoying!
by Team Dragon Star
Summary: When field trips gets canceled, emotions tend to run high.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: No we don't own DBZ.**

...

If a teacher has to get hit by a car, it's nice to have it happen right before a field trip.

Now, Gohan knew those words were both rather inconsiderate to the teacher, and something average kids usually wouldn't say, but he had given up trying to be average a long time ago. Now he was just trying to just hide his abnormalities from his new friends. This incident thankfully saved him from having to worry about them learning things that he rather they wouldn't. Besides, their class really didn't need to go on any more field trips.

So instead of being at Capsule Corp, or some famous landmark in Satan City, or wherever it was they were going the class found themselves sitting in homeroom with the teacher the next room over telling them to behave.

Gohan had to feel bad for the guy. Taking care of one mob of students seemed to take its toll on a person, but to have to handle two at once was a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone. Especially since this class was particularly... annoying.

"I can't believe this. Of all days, he decided to get hit by a car today," Sharpner grumbled.

Erasa had to agree. "Ya! Why didn't he get hit last week before that test?"

"Erasa!" whispered Videl harshly. "The guy got hit by a car! He's lucky to be alive, let alone walk away with only a broken arm. How can you say that kinda stuff?"

"Well, if he had to get hit, the least he could do would be to get hit the day before something bad like a test or something. But nooo, of course not. He gets hit before a field trip!"

Hmm, maybe Gohan was more normal than he gave himself credit for.

Videl sighed, shaking her head. "Just do your homework Erasa. If we get it done, maybe they'll let us play some board games or something."

The blonds continued to pout and whine in protest, but Gohan had started the worksheets as soon as he got them and Videl had been quick to follow. It was a little competition they had developed over the two months they had come to know each other. Videl had always been the top of her class. School smarts didn't come naturally to her, but hard work did. The ease with which Gohan aced everything annoyed Videl to no end.

For the first time, she just couldn't get first place. Sports? Gohan always seemed to know exactly where to be and how to break the laws of physics to get there despite never playing the game before. Tests? Gohan was always the first done with perfect scores. Helping people? Not only could Gohan help teach other people better than the teacher, he could hear an eraser drop from two miles away and he would be there to pick it up for the person within seconds even if he was running late for something.

It irked Videl. No one person could be this... this... annoying! So Videl had made it her personal mission to beat Gohan in something. Anything. And that's why she was racing through her homework in an attempt to beat him at his own game.

Videl could feel it. Today was her day. She had been at the scene the night before, so she knew there would be no field trip today. She made sure to go to bed on time. But Gohan hadn't known. He had probably stayed up late. Let himself slip. It was now or never! This could be her only chance, and Videl knew-

"Uh, Videl, question five should be 85 lbs, not 83," Gohan pointed out.

"...huh?"

Looking up, Videl found Gohan looking over her desk. Looking back down, Videl found in fact that he was right. She had been rushing to much, and made a mistake.

"You... stop looking at my paper!" Videl exclaimed, put off. "You trying to cheat or something?"

"N-no! Of course not, I'm already done. See?" Gohan nervously replied back.

Just as he said, Gohan held up his paper to show Videl that he was done. She could only sit there, looking at the paper in front of her. Each question answered completely and neatly. Her hands balled into fists, her pencil snapping as she looked down to try and hide her rage. She jerked up to her feet, storming out of the room.

"Did I... do something wrong?"

"Books, stop pissing off your girlfriend all the time. It's hard to watch."

"G-g-g-girlfriend! Sharpner, y-you... what are you talking about?"

Erasa and Sharpner both looked at Gohan with a stupefied glare. Sharpner was the first to regain his voice. "He hasn't asked her out yet."

"I can't believe it..." Erasa mumbled.

Sharpner stood and turned to go. "I'll be right back-"

Erasa grabbed his arm, giving the boy a tug. "No you're not, you're going to let Gohan go comfort Videl because you're a good friend."

"But I don't wanna be a good friend."

"Now Gohan," said Erasa calmly, choosing to ignore Sharpner, "rule one of girls is that you never point out their flaws."

"What flaws?" Gohan asked innocently.

"Exactly."

"But I... just wanted to compare answers with her."

"When someone compares answers with you Books, all they're gonna see is all the mistakes they made," Sharpner pointed out.

Gohan looked down at his paper, looking back and forth from Videl's. "That's not true. For a while now Videl and I have been comparing answers. The only reason I do so well on everything is because I catch my mistakes after looking at hers... see? Here we are, I got six wrong."

The blonds weren't able to help themselves, and quickly they were crowded around the papers. Sharpner was shocked. "I'll be damned, Books did get it wrong."

"Does Videl know about this?"

Gohan blinked, confused at the question. "What else would she think?"

"Well, I've known her for a long time. She wouldn't look at it as you two were the first two done. She'd look at it like you were the first one done, as in before her." Erasa poked Gohan's chest for emphasis.

Gohan recoiled slightly from the poke. "You... really think so? But why?"

"She's very competitive Books, you should know at least that by now."

Gohan had to admit that was true. Especially with his alter ego, but he had never been able to figure out why. Was it really so simple as her hating being in second?

"I should... go talk to her."

Erasa smiled, giving a nod. "I agree. You gotta be clear with that girl, you hear me Gohan?"

"I hear you, I hear you," assured Gohan, smiling nervously as he stood to track Videl down. "I'll go talk to her."

The blonds watched as Gohan rushed out of the room, nearly stumbling over a few people along the way. As he exited the door however, the two turned to the papers their straight A friends happened to leave behind.

Down the hall, at the school's only vending machine, Videl picked her favorite yogurt to help calm herself down. Honestly, she felt like a spoiled child who hadn't gotten her way so she stormed out. How old was she? 'Cause for a teenager, she sure acted like a kid. She hated herself for getting like this. But Gohan was just so... so... annoying?

"Videl!" Gohan called as he rushed up to Videl, smiling nervously as she shot a glare at him on instinct.

"Gohan?"

Instantly, Gohan bowed his head down. "I'm sorry!"

"For what?" sputtered Videl. She had been the one acting spoiled, why was he the one saying sorry?

"Well... I didn't mean to, but I might have... kinda, unintentionally have been rubbing in my scores without knowing it. I'm really sorry."

"N... no, Gohan, really it's okay. I'm just... ."

"Competitive?" he finished for her.

"I guess you could put it like that."

Gohan smiled, straightening up as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, all I really wanted was to check my answers with you."

"Check... huh?"

"You see..." Gohan squirmed uneasily, glancing to his side. "I get one wrong every now and then, so it's nice to check my answers with you. You're very smart... and well, pretty fast too. I didn't mean to shove my answers in your face."

Videl's eyes were wide, her mind making sense of what she had been just told. Could it really have been that simple?

"It's just, that all this homework is so easy, I tend to get careless and make mistakes. You know how it gets, right?"

Videl glanced down, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"Videl? Right? … Videl?"

"Ha... ha... easy? You... you... are so annoying!"

"Huh?"

Gohan blinked, but didn't have the time to ask Videl what she meant. Quickly she shot at him, a flame of pure frustration in her eyes. Gohan could only dodge and dash away, Videl in hot pursuit. By the time Gohan ducked into the room, Videl still behind him, the entire was completely finished with their homework amazingly.

Sharpner and Erasa waved over to the two, and Gohan smiled nervously as he pointed towards the game they had already set up.

Videl grumbled, sitting down in her chair. "How is it that everyone's already done with their work anyway?"

Erasa giggled, setting up Monopoly. "Oh, you know. Everyone just wanted to be done is all!"

"Hmm." Gohan looked over the board. The name of the game sounded familiar, but he himself had never played. "So the goal is to make everyone else go under?"

"You figured that all out by looking at the board Books?"

"Well, that and the instructions are on the bottom of the box over there."

Sharpner glanced over, placing the car piece on the first square. "Oh... well, ya."

"So..." asked Erasa, "who ever rolls highest goes first?"

Videl smiled confidently. "Sounds good to me!"

And after Gohan won at the dice, he picked them up to roll for his first move. "... beginners luck?"

Videl growled under her breath, glaring daggers at the spiky haired teen. "You... are so... annoying!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: TDS does not own DBZ.**

**Chapter. 2**

_**Brought to you by IjustWokeUp**_

All of the negativity Gohan's class emitted about their teacher getting hit by a car traveled quickly, it seemed. It turned out that their teacher had heard their selfish and inconsiderate ramblings about the horrible timing he had to get into an accident from the teacher next door. It wasn't like he could have helped getting hit by a car.

Because of his classmates' lack of sympathy, Gohan's teacher had no qualms with enacting some revenge

"Alright, class!" He burst out, grabbing the students' attentions from their mindless banter amongst each other, "Seeing that we weren't able to go on our field trip like planned, since I got **hit by a car** and all… no big deal, really-," the sarcasm he radiated was all too palpable, "We're going to have one this weekend!"

The entire class hushed as they registered their teacher's announcement.

"Field trip on the weekend?" Sharpner's jaw dangled in disapproval.

"No way! That's so not cool, teach!" Erasa blabbed as she leaned forward on her desk. "We have a life on the weekends, you know!"

Oh how the teacher wanted to just walk up to the blonde ditz and slap her silly. He knew Erasa was one of many students making those remarks about his accident. And now that she and the rest of the class finally got a glimpse of his pain – what with his neck wrapped in a brace, his arm in a cast and sling, and his entire leg wrapped up in a bandaged mess – they really didn't seem to care. At all.

Smirking at the fact he had the power to override their social lives, he calmly spoke, "Now, now. Don't you worry; this trip will be something to be remembered. I'm making it up to you all!"

"Bpbpthhh!" Erasa shot her tongue out as she gave him a thumbs-down.

"Erasa!" Videl sneered at her friend for acting so immature.

Gohan swallowed nervously as he awaited for the teacher's announcement of their destination. He prayed to Kami it wasn't anywhere close to pertaining to his personal life.

"Alright, kids. Calm down and listen up," the teacher seemed to be losing patience for his class, "We'll be going on a three-day survival trip out in Mount Paozu. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the nature and habitats in our world." Although in reality, he probably just wanted his students to feel the same pain he was enduring.

'_Damnit.'_ Gohan slumped in his seat.

Sure, Mt. Paozu was a fairly large mountain, but what were the chances that **every** field trip his class decided to go on was **always** somehow connected to the very thing he tried so hard to conceal from these 'normal' people? Kami forbid the teacher decides to pick a spot near his home.

"Mt. Paozu? A survival trip? What is this, a battle royale?" Sharpner cocked an eyebrow skeptically, "Hey, teach, are you gonna try and make us kill each other in the woods?"

"Very funny. Now, you all better be wise when you pack – there are many creatures out in these mountains. If you're not careful… well…" The class hushed to an uncomfortable silence as the teacher drifted into a devious chuckle.

ooOoo

As the class boarded the school bus for their awaited trip, students talked amongst each other with little to no enthusiasm.

"I can't believe we're being forced to our deaths."

"Seriously. Did you hear the teacher snicker like that after he told us where we're going? He wants us killed, for sure!"

"Guys, shut up! If he hears you, he might make us swim in lava or something."

As his classmates rambled on, shuffling inside the yellow vehicle, Gohan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Those little onyx irises of his didn't roll back because of their silly hypotheses, either. The half-Saiyan was more concerned about his own dreadful thoughts about this trip. He wasn't worried about monsters eating him up or being thrown into a pool of lava - really, where did they get lava from? - but was concerned with where exactly his teacher planned on taking him and the rest of his class. He prayed it was going to be on the other side of Mt. Paozu from where he lived.

"What's up, Gohan? You look a little tense," Videl peered over at the worried boy.

"N-nothing…" he could only answer.

'_He's obviously hiding something.' _Eyeing him, she could only feel a twinge of aggravation, _'He's __**always**__ hiding something.'_

"Alright, folks!" the teacher interrupted everyone's banter inside the school bus, "We're gonna head to the airport and take a jet over – thank Videl's father for that. You'll get to see a nice aerial view of where you'll be camping."

"Um, teach, you just said '**you'll** be camping'," Sharpner quickly caught on.

"Yes, well," he chuckled, "you don't expect **me** to be out there in the wilderness with all my limbs broken, now do you?" Ironically, the lightheartedness of his chuckle didn't seem to speak out much for the menacing aura emitting from him.

It didn't take long for the bus full of students to reach the airport. After a dragging hour or two of baggage checks and running by security, the student body boarded the private jet while their wicked teacher stayed behind for the moment. As Videl boarded the all too familiar plane, she almost jumped in place, startled to see her father sitting in the first seat.

"Dad! What are you doing here?" She scrunched her face up in confusion, her body recoiling in mild shock.

"I wanted to surprise you, Pumpkin!" The World Champion said, his voice imposing. "Your teacher told me about his accident, so I volunteered to supervise your trip!"

Jaw dangling, Videl couldn't believe it, "You could have at least told me."

As the pigtailed girl stood there in bafflement, Gohan stepped onto the plane and noticed the famous martial artist. "Whoa! Mr. Satan's here? H-hi, it's an honor to meet you!" he stumbled over his words and humbly smiled at the mustached man.

'_Suck up,'_ was all the cerulean-eyed girl could think as she huffed.

In actuality, Gohan really didn't want Mr. Satan to recognize him as that boy seven years back during the Cell Games. Yes, in reality, Gohan was sweating bullets. Mr. Satan's presence was just one more thing to worry about. Oh, how he hated field trips.

"Yes, yes. Take a seat, will you? You're holding up the line," The World Champion dismissed the half-Saiyan with a wave of his hand.

While Videl took a seat in the back, Gohan took a seat across from her, next to a window. The rest of the students boarded, and Erasa ended up sitting with Videl, and Sharpner with Gohan.

After lifting off, the onyx-haired boy felt a nudge on his shoulder.

"So?" Sharpner leaned in to a whisper, "Are you gonna use this three-day trip to your advantage, Gohan?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, coyly.

"You know," the blonde boy narrowed his eyes at him as an eyebrow cocked up, "Make your move."

He had no idea what he was talking about.

"My move?"

Rolling his eyes, Sharpner took a deep breath. He couldn't believe how naïve this bookworm was at times. "On Videl!" he exclaimed in exasperation.

Unfortunate for the two, the blonde had raised his voice in aggravation – enough that the girl in question heard him.

"On… me?" Videl leaned over to the two boys as her eyes cast suspicion on them.

Quick to retract his booming voice, Sharpner nervously grinned back at her, "N-nothing! You heard nothing."

Erasa chimed in with a giggle, "Sounds dirty."

Swinging her glare at her bubbly friend, Videl sneered, quickly making the blond girl zip her lips.

Whispering, Gohan eyed the pigtailed girl as he asked Sharpner, "Y-you can't be serious, right? I could never do that!"

"Oh, c'mon. Stop acting like a pansy. Erasa and I both know what's up."

"What's… wait. What is up?"

"Could you be any more naïve about your own circumstance?" the blonde boy cocked an eyebrow. Leaning in, Sharpner cupped his hand around Gohan's ear and whispered to him. As he continued to inform his friend of his own situation, the half-Saiyan's eyes widened.

"N-no way!" he exploded, gaining the attention of many of his classmates – including Mr. Satan. Meekly apologizing for his outcry, he shrunk back in his seat and swung his attention back to Sharpner and hushed, "V-Videl and I aren't like _that_... how can you even think that? Don't you see her glaring at me all the time like she wants to kill me?" He leaned forward a little to get a glimpse of the said girl, only to validate his own statement.

There she was, staring right through his poor soul.

Digging his back deeper into his seat, Gohan slouched further, "See? See?" he pointed towards her direction.

"Stop acting like a fool. Once we get off this jet, spend time with her. Teach her a few things about the wilderness; you've read enough books, right? Just be yourself. I'm sure those looks she gives you will eventually stop if you do," his friend suggested.

'_For some reason, I have a feeling she gives me those looks just for being myself…'_ Gohan skeptically thought to himself.

As the jet crept closer to Mt. Paozu, Mr. Satan stood up from his seat and faced the class, "OK, kids! We're about to pass over Mt. Paozu. As instructed by your teacher, I'm supposed to give you a quick overview of what you are to do during these next three days, and what you may encounter," he whipped a sheet of paper out from his back pocket and began to skim through it, "We'll be landing on the border of Diablo Desert and head into Dragon Rock. Be wary; there are numerous creatures lurking about, so stick close to your respective partners and work together. You can check this list afterwards to see who you will be working together with."

His voice suddenly began to give out as he continued to read, "If need be, Mr. Satan will provide his service in protecting you from any dangers that may arise… with his superior… martial arts skills…" looking up from the piece of paper, he looked left and right in a panic. He then turned around to face the pilot, "W-wait a minute, I-I wasn't informed of this! M-m-monsters are gonna be crawling all over the place!"

The pilot of the jet merely shrugged in response. Not like he knew what was going on with this trip, anyway.

As the World Champion panicked in silence, not wanting any of Videl's classmates to be aware of his uneasy composure, the jet landed at the edge of Diablo Desert. As the students lined up to get off the aircraft, they peered over at the list posted on the wall by the exit that indicated who they would be partnered up with.

Videl could only groan as she read the name listed next to hers, "Great," she muttered.

"Great!"

The pigtailed girl turned around and met Sharpner's enthusiasm.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-nothing!" Sharpner then quickly turned around to Gohan and whispered with a wink, "Lucky dog, you, it's your perfect chance!"

Wondering what his blonde friend was talking about, the half-Saiyan skimmed the list for his name. Slightly flustered, with wide eyes, he read:

'Gohan'…

…'Videl'.

**I know you want to click that little button down there to tell us how you feel about this piece of writing. It would be appreciated. ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_**Brought to you by Nikkojin27 and Gue22**_

...

Videl and Gohan walked away from the landing strip side by side wearing their backpacks on their backs. Gohan was a bottle of nerves. Logic told him there was no way the champ would recognise him from the Cell games, but he still worried. With hurried steps, he followed diligently behind the national park's ranger – trying to create as much space between him and the champ as possible.

Beside him, Videl matched his hurried steps over the thick sinking soil as they left Diablo Desert. With an irritated scowl on her face, she too had reason to create some distance between her and her father. To think that he'd impose his presence like this? It was so annoying!

It didn't take them more than twenty minutes to reach the 'briefing room'. It was the largest of the scatter of small cabins in the vicinity. Videl and Gohan were pushed to the very front as the remaining students entered behind them. It was a relief for them both, when the champ didn't enter. Instead, one of the rangers led him off to his 'lodge'.

"Alright!" clapped the ranger, "everybody sit down, shut up and listen up!" he ordered with a stern authoritative voice.

Gohan and Videl, together with twenty other grumpy and annoyed students, and their rather pleased and injured teacher shuffled about and found a seat. They were in the park's main office, which was rather large, with an old squeaking fan spinning on the ceiling. There was plenty of natural light flooding in from the large windows, and even though it was not yet mid-morning, the sun was already hot enough to be uncomfortable. It was slightly dusty, and the wooden floors creaked; but what captured the group's attention were the walls filled with large maps, posters of dangerous animals known to lurk freely in the park, as well as posters of known poisonous vegetation.

"You'll be heading out in pairs in exactly," the park ranger glanced at his watch, "forty-five minutes, so for your own sake, please pay attention."

A murmur broke out as the students protested. They had just disembarked from the jet for crying out loud! Were they really expected to head out in just forty-five minutes? Most of them were foolishly hoping to spend a bit of time at the ranger's main camp. It was hardly anything, but compared with the alternative? None of them were looking forward to being out there in the wilderness. At least here, they'd spotted some cushy-looking cabins.

"I said QUIET!" The park ranger barked, clapping his hands once more to ensure silence. "First of all, your bags," he shook his head. "You kids clearly don't know the definition of the word necessities." He scolded, eying each student's load with disdain. "You'll be on foot you know, so all that junk you packed in there is just going to weigh and slow you down."

In his seat, Gohan nodded in agreement. His own back-pack was the smallest and lightest in his class. Technically he didn't need anything to survive in the wilderness, but for the sake of appearing normal, he'd packed: two sets of clean teddy-bear underwear, an extra t-shirt, a water-bottle, a sleeping bag, a knife, matches, a torch, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap and antiperspirant, per Chichi's order.

"Some of you could barely drag your bags into this room," the park ranger continued with his lecture.

"Pft," scoffed Sharpener, flexing his arms. Honestly, as if a little thing like that could best him.

Videl was of the same mind, though she kept her opinions to herself.

"Just how do you propose to carry them up and down these mountains for two and a half days?" The park ranger glared at the hopeless lot of teens before him. "I'm not the one that made the rules for this field trip; your teacher specified 'NO CAPSULES', so first things' first." He placed his hands on his hips. "We're gonna re-pack these bags and gear you lot up properly."

The students immediately broke into another displeased murmur. Each one of them felt that the items they had packed were indeed 'necessities'. Some of the girls had packed battery operated curling irons, they definitely didn't want to see them go. The guys' packs were mainly stuffed with junk food, magazines, portable gaming devices and other extraneous items.

The game ranger was quick to discard most of these items into the large bin with 'confiscated items' written across it. All food supplies were also confiscated, as the students were expected to utilize their environment to feed themselves.

"Miss Satan," the ranger dangled twin metallic rings in his hand. "Cuffs? Really? I don't know what kind of trip you think this is, but I'm sure you won't be needing these." He tossed them into the bin.

Videl just folded her arms and harumphed as the rest of the students broke into giggles. What did this ranger know anyway? Criminals could be lurking out there; one could never be too careful.

Once the re-packing of the bags was done to his satisfaction, the park ranger moved on to the next order of business. "Right then," he continued, "this trip is supposed to be educational. It's meant to teach you city slugs a thing or two about nature - mainly survival." He stressed the last bit by taking a short dramatic pause before continuing. "So how can we best ensure that you posse of reluctants will rise to the occasion and take full advantage of your environment?" He flashed a knowing grin, looking pleased for the first time since welcoming them by showing off two missing front teeth. "After all, it won't do at all to have you lot wasting the entire trip huddling in one spot, feeling sorry for yourselves."

Erasa gulped. Her plan had been just that. To find a safe and secure spot as close to the park's main offices as was allowed and pass the remaining two days lost in her romantic novels, chewing on dried fruit and biltong. She definitely didn't like what the park ranger was saying.

"So in order to ensure sufficient exploration on your part, your teacher here has prepared an assignment for you to complete." The park ranger shot a thumbs up at the teacher.

"WHAT?" The students exclaimed in outrage. It was bad enough that their weekend was going to be spent slumming about in the pits of nature, but an assignment? Really? Could this trip be anymore annoying?

"Kyahahahah!" The injured teacher laughed as he shifted his body. He looked so pleased with himself, it was all Videl could do not to punch him in the face. She should be back in Satan City, arresting criminals, not wasting time in the wilderness!

"For this assignment," the park ranger completely ignored the noisy outburst, "each pair will be tasked with collecting data on one of the ten vegetative gems of this park. The ten reasons why this mountainous region was preserved in the first place: Jade Vine, Corpse Flower, Gibraltar Campion, Franklin Tree, Parrots Beak, Chocolate Cosmos, Koki'o, Lady Slippers, Ghost Orchid, Middlemist Red." He listed all ten 'gems' to the clueless looking bunch. "Would anyone here have a clue as to what these are?"

"The ten rarest flowers in the world." Said Gohan enthusiastically.

"Hmmph," muttered Videl, folding her arms. Surprise, surprise. Who else but Mr-Know-it-all? She thought dryly.

Gohan bit his lip at her reaction. He already knew what she was thinking, and honestly he wasn't trying to show off or anything. The answer was so easy it just slipped out of his mouth. But of course, despite their talk, Videl wouldn't see it that way. Dispiritedly, he hung his head.

"Each pair," continued the park ranger, "armed with a map, a notebook and a camera, will use the two and a half days you have left to journey in different directions in search of these gems. You will find them, photograph them and study their environment."

"Fuck that," some of the students cursed in unison, while others grumbled incoherently.

"Failure to locate your designated gem is a fail for you and your partner," interjected the injured teacher. "Thirty percent of your grade people! Make it happen!" As he finished, he smiled slyly. Oh yes, payback was a bitch.

...

Two hours after setting out with Gohan to the east, Videl was trying very hard to bite her tongue. The ranger's lecture about the dangers lurking in the wilderness had been bad enough, but now she had to walk and listen to Gohan mouth off about this stupid, stinking plant! Did he have to know everything about everything? Honestly!

"...so we'd be pretty lucky to catch it because it blooms for just two days." Gohan grinned.

"Great," muttered Videl. How lucky she felt indeed. Instead of doing something constructive like crime fighting, she was due to spend her weekend studying a flower that smelled so bad it could only be compared to rotting flesh. Subconsciously she crinkled her nose in disgust. Couldn't they have landed a normal, pretty, fragrant flower? Clearly she was all out of luck on this trip.

Biting his lip nervously, Gohan noted her lack of interest in the corpse flower and promptly decided to leave that conversation for later.

_"Stop acting like a fool. Once we get off this jet, spend time with her. Teach her a few things about the wilderness; you've read enough books, right? Just be yourself. I'm sure those looks she gives you will eventually stop if you do," _Sharpener's advice rang through his mind.

'_Be myself?' _Gohan thought._ 'How? And how much of myself can I really be without being too me? It's not like I can be myself without betraying at least some of my secrets. Grr this is gonna be hard.'_

The duo trudged on in silence for a while, with Gohan having an argument with himself in his head. There were so many subjects he thought of bringing up, but one – he didn't want to appear as a show off, and two – he didn't want to bore her.

...

It was much cooler now, having entered this dense part of the forest. The sun was blocked out by numerous leaves of the tall trees. The incessant snap of dried twigs came to a halt as Videl abruptly stopped walking. She pulled out her water-bottle and began to drink.

Gohan decided to follow her lead - he stopped and pulled out his own bottle. As he sipped at the water, he kept stealing glances at her only to find that she was looking in the other direction. He quickly cast his gaze forward, for fear that she would get angry with him for staring.

They were both caught in an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say. It had been this way since he'd stopped talking a while back. Gohan was desperate to try and pick his words carefully and Videl just didn't seem like she wanted to talk..

He glanced over at Videl again and this time she turned her head and glared at him.

"Why do you keep staring at me like that?" she asked with obvious annoyance in her voice.

Gohan straightened up. Even though he could easily beat her in a fight, not like he'd ever try of course, he still found her quite frightening.

"Well… Um, I wanted to ask you a question." He stated.

Videl continued to glare at him. "Well what do you want?"

"Well," started Gohan, "It won't be long before sun-set now and uh... what are your plans about… um… shelter?"

Videl frowned. Her plan? _Her_ plan? Wait a minute. "I don't know!" She yelled. "Aren't you the one that lives in the mountains? What is _your _plan?"

Gohan blinked, surprised. _I thought Videl wanted to be the one calling the shots on this field trip. I wonder what must've changed her mind._

Videl sighed, he had never looked more clueless. "Just my luck," she muttered, and began to walk again. "Stuck with the brainiac and he doesn't even know what to do. Looks like he's book-smart, but not a clue about practical matters."

Gohan scratched his head. Well… um… was he supposed to respond to that? Set her straight maybe? Or just let her take the lead? He was anxious to set up camp somewhere; he wanted to do something about their food situation as soon as possible.

As if reading his mind, Videl began to talk as she smacked branches out of her face. "Look, first things first okay? Since that stupid ranger tossed all our packed food and snacks, the first thing we gotta do is gather all the edibles we can find."

Gohan nodded in agreement.

"Second," she stopped and pulled out her map. "According to this map, there should be a stream not far from here. I'm gonna go check it out. It's important to be close to water. Survival 101."

"Sounds good," Gohan nodded, pulling out his knife. "Find the water and a good spot to set up camp. I'll hunt for dinner and meet you there."

Videl facepalmed. What did he think this was? He had clearly watched too many movies if he thought he was going to hunt wild animals with just a tiny little knife! Even skilled hunters with traps and guns didn't always succeed. "Don't be silly Gohan," she snatched the knife from him. "You? Hunt? With this?" She slipped the knife into one of her pockets and shook her head. "I'll keep this to make sure you don't hurt yourself, _Tarzan._"

Gohan started at that, surprised at her statement. _Hurt… hurt… myself? What the…_ She… she didn't think he could hunt! Just how useless did she think he was? "Videl, I can actually-" he began to defend his position, but Videl cut him off.

"See this," she bent down and grabbed a soft pink flower and pulled it from its spot. Still holding onto it she walked over to Gohan and extended her arm. "This is a Daylily, and at the moment it's the only food source that I see around here. Doesn't taste like much, kind of asparagus-like, but it's safe and nutritious. Gather as many of these as you possibly can, we can eat these tonight."

"Eat… flowers..." Gohan almost cried at the thought of such cruelty. Sure enough, this part of the forest was full of the flowers in question but… He would never, ever get full on those. Was she trying to kill him? The thought of these frilly petals being his main meal… er… no.

"Listen Videl," he began to say, but she was already heading off. Gohan blinked, "Videl, where are you going?"

"Water, remember? That's the most essential thing. Seeing as much as you eat I'm putting you in charge of the food, because I wouldn't know how much to get." Videl explained waving her hand, shooing Gohan away. "And stay in this area where I can find you! Don't wander off and get lost!" She shouted as an afterthought.

Gohan looked off into the distance and didn't look away until she was gone. He scratched his head, chuckling to himself. Hurt himself with a knife? Get lost? Wow. Videl surely had the wrong opinion of him.

"Well I guess I'll have a bit of time, so I may as well start gathering _flowers,_" He muttered to himself.

…...

After a long hour of walking through the woods, Videl finally located the stream on the map. _Was further than I thought, but this is definitely the one_. She nodded, _This'll do. _She took out a couple of water bottles dipped them in the stream, closed them up, and started to jog back towards the camp.

_I sure do hope Gohan hasn't done anything stupid_, she thought. _Thank Kami I confiscated his knife before he went chasing after wild dangerous animals_.

…...

Videl ran back to her and Gohan's rendezvous point. _I hope he got everything together._ Arriving at her destination she saw Gohan huddled over something.

"Hey Gohan! I'm back with the water!"

Gohan's ears immediately perked up. He turned around with the biggest, stupidest grin she had ever seen. Before Videl could blink, he phased right before her eyes and grabbed her shoulders.

"Videl!" yelled Gohan. "You have to try these flowers! They're like plant cakes, except with leaves!"

Videl was only able to register a small gust of wind before he was back at the pile of flowers, shoving another into his mouth. "Come try them Videl, they definitely don't taste like yucky asparagus!"

Videl was still frozen in shock where she stood. How did he… when did he? One second he was over there and then he was over here and then… just… what the hell?

"Hey now, why are there three of you?" Gohan rubbed his eyes.

Videl just stood staring, trying to make sense of what she'd just seen. Or what she thought she'd seen. But that was impossible right? Gohan couldn't have possibly moved that fast.

"Heh heh heh," Gohan chuckled. "Stop multiplying yourself Videl, I'll bet I can guess which is the real you though." Just then he flailed his arms wildly like a bird, trying to balance himself, but he still fell backwards.

Videl frowned, not knowing what was happening. Gohan wasn't usually this hyper, he was often very timid. Watching him chuckle as he tried to sit back up, Videl finally made note of the flowers he'd picked. Sure, they were mostly the Daylilies she'd shown him but... her eyes widened.

_He didn't!_

"Gohan let me see that flower you were eating." She marched over to him.

Gohan nodded his head and grabbed one of the flowers. "Sure, try some. They're really good." He said soberly, just before... "Heh heh heh heh...aww Videl fairies, so pretty. When did you guys grow those awesome wings?"

Videl frowned. "Gimme that!" she yelled, snatching the flower out of his hand. One look and she gritted her teeth. Sure it resembled the Daylily, but honestly for someone as smart as him, spotting the difference between a Daylily and an Angel Trumpet should have been a piece of cake.

"Gohan you idiot," she smacked him on the head, "This is not a Daylily! I can't believe this! Don't you know anything? These are Angel Trumpets! Devils-weed! It can be extremely poisonous."

"Really? Are you sure? Heh heh heh. S'okay, I only ate like… um… ten… I think," Gohan replied, his voice getting softer. He closed his eyes and fell back on the grass.

"Idiot!" Videl grumbled. "Now he'll be as high as a kite, we'll be lucky if...he doesn't get sick as well. Just what I need." She crouched down and smacked him lightly across the face. "Hey, Gohan! This is no time to be lying around, we gotta head out. I found a nice place to set up camp earlier!"

He didn't stir.

"Gohan, come on." She smacked him a few more times, harder and harder. "You can pass out later, for now we have to get moving."

Nothing.

"Crap!" She swore, so much for having a partner. Now she was really on her own, with a burden to look after as well. "This is just what I need, a high Gohan." She grumbled. "I'll have to feed and shelter you, and try and keep you safe from your own hallucinations. Videl fairies my ass," she rolled her eyes. "I don't know how, but I guess I have to drag you down to camp somehow and get us both settled for the night."

She glanced down at his face. Well, he certainly looked pleased for some reason.

"Fairies," she thought she heard him mumble.

"Well, wings would come in handy right about now." She tested his weight, and scowled – he was really heavy. Making up her mind, Videl grabbed his back-pack and unrolled his sleeping bag. It was a difficult task, but she finally got him inside. She rummaged through both their stuff, blushing at his teddy bear underwear, but neither of them had a rope.

"This will have to do," she grabbed his extra t-shirt and ripped it into bits that she tied together to make a short rope. With his knife, she made a hole in the sleeping bag and strung it through like a rope. This was the best she could do for him. The sleeping bag should cushion him a bit against the ground, but she didn't know how well it would hold up.

Sighing, she began the arduous task of dragging her classmate through the forest. Honestly, she didn't see how this trip could possibly get more annoying.

...

_**End Chapter. Leave a review please.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Brought to you by Lilly-sama and Ri696q**

_He was surrounded by Videl fairies._

_They had pretty white and blue wings with pretty, fluffy pink dresses, a pretty wand in each of their hands, and they were singing a beautiful tune to him. He felt nice and at peace; it was very pleasant indeed._

_But slowly, the tune became less and less pretty, as the fairies got closer and closer to one another, before merging into one. But it wasn't a fairy that was standing before Gohan now; no, it was a flower-clad Videl. A very creepy-looking flower-clad Videl._

"_I'm huunnnngryyyy!" she complained, stepping toward him. Gohan wasn't reassured at all and kept stepping back the more the creepy looking Videl got closer to him. She had a crazy glint in her eyes, and the Son boy was thoroughly afraid of what she was going to do to him._

_She smirked, sending chills down Gohan's spine at the mere sight, and he only got more scared at what she said next._

"_You look like a tasty donut."_

_His eyes widened, and then he looked down at himself, noticing for the first time that he was wearing a strange donut outfit. Struck with horror, the poor boy dashed as fast as he could, hoping to put as much distance as possible between him and the creepy and hungry girl. Why a flower would eat a donut, he didn't know, but his top priorities was to run away from Videl. He did not want to become her meal._

_But no matter how fast he was running, the flower-clad girl was still behind him, and even closing up on him! He was beginning to panic; he didn't want to be eaten by a crazy flower!_

_His run came to a stop when he ran into something and fell backward. Taking a moment to clear his mind, Gohan looked up to see what he had bumped into, only to see the ever infamous Frying Pan of Doom, held firmly in his mother's hands._

"_Why are you running around pointlessly? You should be training instead! Did you forget what happened last time you forgot to train?" she scolded severely._

"_Huh..."_

_It was all he could utter. What on earth was his mother talking about? Since when did she want him to __**train**__? Did he land in some kind of alternate dimension or something?_

"_Brother, you're here! Finally! Now we can eat!"_

_Gohan looked towards Goten's voice, expecting him to be sat at the table and ready to eat-only to widen his eyes in horror._

_Here, before him, stood his cheerful little brother. Dressed like a flower. And he was walking toward Gohan with fork and knife ready in his hands._

"_Yummy donut!" Goten exclaimed while leaping at the still donut-clad Gohan._

"_Ack!"_

_Jumping out of the way, the Son eldest ran away again, the youngest hot on his trail. And when Gohan looked back, he saw in fear that Videl was also running after him now, along with his little brother, both dressed as flowers and wanting to eat him._

_In the background, he could hear his mother yelling after him "Gohan! I told you to go train! You gotta be the strongest warrior in the universe! No son of mine will be a weakling scholar!"_

_But as he kept running, what he came across next shocked him beyond belief. Somehow, he ran into Vegeta and Trunks, and they were seated at a tiny table, wearing pink and fluffy princess dresses and flower crowns on their heads, seeming to enjoy a nice tea party._

"_You should have some of this cake, Trunksy, it's delicious," Vegeta, the prin...cess of all Saiyans, said in a purposely high-pitched voice to make it more girly._

"_Oh yes, they are fabulous," replied... "Trunksy", imitating his father's (mother's?) voice. "Would you like some more tea, my dear?"_

_Gohan stood there gaping. Vegeta and Trunks were having a tea party. They were actually having a tea party! In princess dresses, and wearing crowns of flowers on their head._

_What the hell was going on? Or better yet, __**where **__the hell did he end up in?_

"_DONUT!"_

_The hungry yell from behind him reminded him of the two crazy flowers that were determined to eat him, and Gohan resumed his running away._

"_You seem to be having some trouble, pretty boy!" a high-pitched voice suddenly resounded from out of nowhere._

'_What is it going to be now?' the poor fleeting boy thought in dread._

"_Who is here?" he called out reluctantly, not slowing down as he looked around him._

_There was a sudden popping sound, and a tiny Piccolo look-alike was flying in front of Gohan, moving ahead as the boy kept running. For some odd reason, he was dressed like a gobelin. Green hat, green outfit, wooden stick and all._

"_Hi there, Gohan! I came to your rescue!" the unusually high-pitched voice of the normally tall Namek said cheerfully._

_But the half Saiyan was too dumbstruck to answer anything. His legs seemed to be on autopilot, while the donut-crazed Videl and Goten still chased after him from behind. His shocked silence didn't seem to affect the tiny Piccolo's unusually happy mood, who only grinned wider._

_Okay, this was way too creepy._

"_Just touch my magic stick and you'll be able to escape, my dear Gohan! Come on!" the green alien encouraged._

_The shock easing down somewhat, Gohan figured, what the heck. This world was so crazy already, so magic sticks that could rescue people from donut-obsessed flowers may as well be possible._

_He touched the stick like the gobelin Piccolo had said, and immediately he found himself in a vacuum-like tornado, absorbing him into a bright light. After a few moments, he stopped twirling and landed in a completely dark room. He couldn't see at all, not even with his overdeveloped sight. His eyes weren't getting used to the darkness either, and Gohan wondered where he had ended in this time. Ah well, at least he was not chased by two hungry flowers anymore._

_He tried to walk around; the room may was completely dark, but he didn't seem to be in a confined space, he could always try to get out of this dark room. Somehow, though, his legs would not move. His mind was telling them to move, but he stayed rooted on the same spot he landed on._

"_Thanks a lot, Piccolo," he muttered under his breath._

_Two vacant eyes suddenly appeared: white spheres with small black ones right in the middle of them. Those were Mr. Popo's eyes._

"_Boo."_

Gohan's eyes snapped open and he stared up into a green sky.

It took a few seconds for him to process the fact that he was in a forest. Slowly, he sat up, one hand firmly planted on the ground to support his weight and another went to his head to rub his temples. What a crazy dream that was...

Black eyes darted around to take in the unfamiliar surroundings he was in and eventually they settled on a pair of blue ones which could only belong to one person.

"I see you are awake," Videl stated sourly, the annoyance clear in her voice. She was sitting on a blanket a few feet away from him, her arms resting on her bended knees in a relaxed pose.

Gohan blinked confused. For a moment he had completely forgotten where he was, but that moment passed quickly and yesterday's events came crashing back.

Right, the field trip.

"You know," Videl said, her blue eyes watching his every move in case he wasn't completely over his flower induced high, "for someone who is supposed to know everything you certainly fail when forced out into the real world."

"Sorry..." he said embarrassed. And he was indeed sorry. So very sorry that Videl had had to put up with his foolishness. And her words stung painfully because, yes, he was supposed to know everything about survival in the wilderness considering he had spent half a year in the middle of nowhere when he was only four or five years old. He certainly wouldn't tell her that. Because if she knew, she would only berate him for eating those flowers even more.

It had been stupid of him really. Eating those Angel Trumpets.

When he had eaten them, he had been walking around, collecting flowers, thinking about how he should deal with the situation. He had been terribly hungry too and Daylilies would not be enough to fill his Saiyan stomach. He had picked them randomly, not even bothering to check if they were the correct flowers or not. He wanted to get it over with so he could mystically disappear and hunt for his own meal while Videl was still searching for water. Absentmindedly he ate a few flowers to silence his growling stomach until he could get some real food. That was when the world began turning funny.

"Uhm Videl..." he started and she looked at him, no, _stared _at him. "Can you please not tell my mom about... yesterday?"

She arched an eyebrow. "I don't even know your mom, how could I possibly tell her anything?"

"Well... if you ever meet her, please don't tell her. I would be grounded for a lifetime."

"She would ground you because you were too stupid and ate the wrong flowers?

He could tell from her tone that she didn't really believe him.

"She worries a lot," he explained, "it was really hard for me to convince her to let me attend high school. If she were to have it her way she would lock me up forever and bury me in school books... literally." Then he added as an afterthought, "She did actually do that for a while..."

At first, Videl didn't answer because she wasn't exactly sure what to say. Eventually she settled on, "you're kidding me, right?"

Black eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

Okay, so he wasn't kidding, she concluded. As an afterthought, she doubted he even knew how to joke. "Your mom sounds pretty insane," she remarked instead.

"Yeah, but I don't blame her. My family has been through a lot."

He let the words hang in the air and Videl stared at Gohan, waiting for him to add more to that sentence, but it never came. She considered questioning him about it but decided against it after seeing his facial expression.

A loud growl interrupted them and Gohan rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Sorry, I believe that was my stomach."

She snorted, standing up, brushing the dust off her clothes. "Then we'd better get something to eat, right? This time I'm coming with you, we can't have you getting high again."

"Heh," the hybrid grinned sheepishly, "once again, sorry." He too stood up, dusting the dirt off his clothes, afterwards stretching his sore muscles. It had been a long time since he had slept out in the open.

She eyed him warily. "You're okay, being up and about already? I haven't gotten high before but I dare say you are surprisingly quick to recover."

This time he sent her a grin. "Gotta be my genes," he stated, "I'm perfectly fine now."

She arched an eyebrow but didn't question him further. Instead she began packing her stuff into her backpack while her teammate did the same. However, he stopped, when he noticed his T-Shirt, or rather, the remains of it.

"You just had to pass out," she explained, a hint of annoyance in her voice to mask the guilt of ruining his clothes, "and I had to make it into a rope to drag you here."

She had expected him to complain, but instead he just shrugged and continued to pack his belongings, including the shredded T-Shirt.

Gohan wasn't particularly fond of having lost a T-Shirt, he knew his mom would definitely ask questions once she found out, but he saw no reason to blame Videl for it. It had, after all, been his own mistake. His own stupid, horrible, senseless mistake and if anyone was to blame, it was himself.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do about her. Really, there had been many times where Gohan had been unsure before and this was certainly one of them. He had a feeling she wasn't as fond of him as he was of her. She always seemed so annoyed at him all the time and something told him that yesterday's incident hadn't helped his case at all. Absentmindedly he chewed on the inside of his cheek. Erasa and Sharpner kept bugging him about asking Videl out, and from what he had read in his books, 'asking out' meant that you liked a person as more than a friend, but he wasn't entirely sure what that was supposed to mean, and especially not if he felt like that about Videl. He had never tried it before, so he didn't know what it should feel like.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, causing Videl to look at him oddly. He beamed at her, hoping she would dismiss it. It worked and she turned around, muttering about weird country boys.

Anyway, regardless of what he felt about Videl, he wouldn't get himself into such an embarrassing situation again. He still wasn't sure how to tackle their situation without annoying Videl too much, but right now, he just wanted something to eat, something that could actually fill his Saiyan stomach.

"Alright, I'm done," Videl stated after some time as she straightened up, turning to look at Gohan.

He was already ready to go, had been for the last couple of minutes actually, but he wasn't going to tell her that. Instead he nodded and began walking.

"Hey! What are you doing? Do you even have any idea where you are going?" she asked, her tone accusing.

"I live around these parts," he answered cheerfully, "it's like my backyard."

She arched an eyebrow, falling into a step beside him. "And yet you ate those flowers yesterday?"

He didn't answer by words, but his face did get a new interesting shade of red.

They walked in silence for a bit until suddenly, Gohan held out a hand to stop Videl from moving.

"What is it now?" she asked a bit annoyed.

"Shhh," he said, holding a finger to his lips, "there is a deer right over there," he whispered and pointed to the side.

Videl followed the direction of his finger and just as he had said, she spotted a deer about 50 meters to the left. "Wow, it's beautiful," she said, her voice barely a whisper, but Gohan caught it nonetheless.

"And it's going to be our breakfast," he stated in the same low voice.

"WHAT?" she exclaimed as loudly as her lung capacity allowed her, scaring the deer away. "We're gonna eat _that_? Are you out of your mind?"

He blinked at her outburst. "Uhm... no? I'm just really hungry and I like deer so..."

"Gohan," she sighed exasperatedly, "you can't just hunt down a deer. Of course I'm not one of those sissies who are unaware of where meat comes from, but what I'm saying is that it's not physically possible for us to hunt it down."

The boy bit his lip. Of course she couldn't know that he was actually half-saiyan and therefore perfectly capable of hunting it down faster than she could blink, but he wasn't sure how to explain it to her. Leaving out the saiyan part would probably be a good idea.

"Videl," he tried and held up a silencing hand before she could protest. She had already opened her mouth to do just that. "I know it might be... err... difficult for you to understand this, but I am terribly hungry and I would very much like to eat that deer, so uhm... if you could, you know, just stay there and then I'll be back shortly."

He took a step in the direction the deer had run to, but the girl's hand gripping onto his bicep stopped him before he could continue.

"You are insane, Gohan, you know that?" she gritted out between her clenched teeth. "The deer is already gone and there is no way I'm letting you go after it and get lost in the woods."

He knew Videl was the one who was always annoyed by his antics, but right at that moment, it was Gohan who had to seriously restrain himself from doing something he would surely regret a second after he had done it.

"Videl," he said, his voice full of determination to get the girl to actually listen to him, "trust me, this time, I actually know what I am doing, okay?"

She narrowed her eyes, not letting go. He saw no other option than to simply grab her hand and slowly, so he wouldn't hurt her, pluck her fingers off one at a time. She tried fighting it, tried to tighten her grip, but in the end he was much stronger than her.

She had to admit she was surprised at that-no, stunned would be a better word. Especially when Gohan simply let her hand fall limply to her side as he took off. Surprisingly, he moved as quiet as a mute, as he left for the hunt.

It wasn't until she heard a loud plunk that she reacted. She shook her head, muttering at herself about silly boys who thought they knew everything, and went in the direction she had heard the sound from. Surely, Gohan had ended up hurting himself yet again.

But he hadn't. When she finally reached the clearing where Gohan was, she was beyond astonished to see the deer on the ground, dead. There was no blood, but she knew enough about fighting to see the neck had been broken. Gohan was crouching by it, slightly turning his head to beam up at her as she came nearer, an incredulous expression on her face.

"Knife," he ordered, a hint of smugness in his voice, and she was too dumbfounded to do anything but find his knife from her backpack and hand it to him.

He accepted it with a grin that said, 'I told you so,' and began cutting it up as if he had done it a million times before.

She no longer doubted that he had.

**Let us know how you liked the chapter please review**

Should you wish to be a part of this story or any of our other stories, please feel free to visit us on the forums and submit an application to join the team in the _Marshalling Zone._


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is brought to you by the newly formed Team Nuisance - Pandor4 and DarkVoid116. Chapters 1 through 4 have also been edited, although the plot hasn't changed at all.**

**We do not own DBZ**

Videl was annoyed to say the least. Looking down at the carefully leaf wrapped pieces of cooked venison, she couldn't help but internally seethe a bit. Sure Gohan was a country boy, but knowing how to hunt and prepare a kill in addition to being incredibly book smart just didn't seem fair. It was like he was incapable of doing anything wrong. Well, except maybe eating those flowers.

With a huff she stuffed the meat into her backpack. With a fierce pull on the zipper she closed the bag and whipped the bag around onto her shoulders. Turning, she found that Gohan was already standing at the edge of the clearing waiting for her.

"Ready?" he asked, a look of complete innocence on his face. "It looks like we'll want to continue heading this way. At least according to the map."

"Fine," Videl huffed, shouldering past him in order to take the lead. They had, unfortunately, gone a bit off course since yesterday. In addition to that, with Gohan having been incapacitated and then having chased the deer further south than they had originally intended to go, they had lost valuable time. Still, they weren't _too_ far off course, and they should be able to make up the time today.

Glancing up through the thick foliage to take note of where the sun was, Videl started forward leading them towards their destination. It was tougher going than it had been the previous day; the vegetation seemed to be growing thicker on the ground and it was constantly pulling at her clothing. Glancing back, she noticed, much to her annoyance, that Gohan seemed to be picking his way through the overgrowth with ease.

"So, you _really_ grew up around here?" Videl asked as she watched him quickly catch up to where she was standing, before turning and trying to determine the best way to make her way around a particularly knotted mass of bushes and vines.

"Yeah. Pretty close to here actually," he said as he glanced off in a random direction. Videl could only assume his home was in that direction.

"How come you don't know where to find this flower then?" she asked, her bag catching on a branch as she began to push her way forward.

With that infuriatingly charming grin that always seemed to find its way to his face, he reached out and pulled the branch aside for her. "Well, I never had much reason to keep track of where they grew before," he said with amusement. "I've seen them on the cliffs a bit west of here, though that was years ago. Hopefully they're still there."

"Huh," Videl said, mildly surprised. "I wouldn't take you for the exploring type."

"Yeah, well, you know what they say," he replied with another chuckle, "'You can't judge a book by it's cover!'"

Videl couldn't help but smile as she pushed her way past the last scrawny bush and walked out onto the grass covered plain. It was a relief to be out of the dense forest. A smile coming unbidden to her face, she turned and glanced at Gohan as he stepped up beside her. Unsurprisingly, a small smile adorned his face as well.

"So, I'm not the only one that's glad to be out of that forest," Videl teased, as she shifted her pack a bit. It somewhat surprised her how easily they were getting along. _Once you looked past his annoying habits_, Videl thought.

His smile grew into a full blown grin as he nodded his head. "You can say that again."

Her eyes scanning the horizon, she was able to quickly make out the cliff faces no more than five miles away. If they kept a decent pace the should be able to make it there by noon, leaving them the rest of the afternoon to search for the plant. If they were lucky, they would find one today and would be able to start back to the base camp.

"We should be able to make it there by this afternoon," she said, glancing back at Gohan. "If you are able to keep up that is."

She watched with something akin to disappointment as the smile slid from his face and he frowned at her. While her tone may have been slightly down putting, she hadn't meant to put any real bite behind it.

"Why do you keep on doing that," he asked, his own agitation becoming apparent.

"Doing what," she asked, even though she knew exactly what he was talking about. She couldn't help but bait him. If she were being truthful with herself it was because of her need to continually prove that she was better than others. To show the world that Hercule Satan's daughter was someone special, too. The frustration of continually being shown up by a country boy was not helping.

He glanced at her, his eyes slightly narrowed before he finally let out a defeated sigh. "Never mind," he murmured as his gaze shifted back to the landscape spreading out before them.

"Whatever. Let's just get going."

They had been walking at a swift pace for the past hour before they ran across a wide ravine, its steep walls leading down to a shadowy path. Seeing a chance to walk in the shade, Videl led them down, the shadow cast by the wall offering them some protection from the unrelenting sun. They had gone no more than fifty feet when she saw the sabertooth cub napping on a warm rock some twenty feet ahead of them.

Stopping dead in her tracks, Videl turned quickly back to Gohan and motioned for him to be quiet.

"Wha-" Gohan began, but Videl quickly put her hand to his mouth, preemptively silencing the question he was about to ask. With a meaningful, look she pointed to the cub.

"The mother will be nearby," she whispered, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She may go up against hardened criminals on a regular basis, but she had no desire to run across a full grown sabertooth mother. Motioning with her free hand, she indicated that they should move back the way they had come. She stared up into Gohan's eyes, willing him to understand until finally he gave a small nod of his head. Taking her hand away from his mouth, she carefully stepped around him in order to lead the way back out.

Luck, however, was not on their side today. Ten feet in front of her stood the mother, the cool feline eyes resting on Videl and Gohan. Standing as still as the deer that they had seen just this morning, Videl stared straight back into the beast's eyes.

She nearly yelped when she felt Gohan's hand touch her shoulder.

"You climb up the side of the ravine, I'll distract her," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

She turned her head slowly towards him, never taking her eyes off the sabertooth that was currently evaluating them. "No!" she whispered back furiously, "I'm faster _and_ stronger. _You_ climb out!" She turned and gave him a strong push towards the side of the ravine, causing him to stumble towards the wall from the unexpected shove.

It was then that the saber tooth choose to lunge.

Rolling to the side, Videl came up with her hands out in front of her and her stance wide. Her gaze locked with the mother's, Videl very slowly lowered herself until she was able to scope a large rock off of the ravine floor. The weapon in hand, she circled towards the center of the ravine.

It was crouching back to lunge again, and Gohan was yelling, but Videl paid him no mind. Raising the rock, she threw it with all her might at the giant head of her attacker. It struck true, but the saber only flinched, a low growl rumbling from deep within its throat.

It lunged again.

She ducked, but wasn't fast enough.

A giant paw caught her on the shoulder, the claws digging into her tender flesh.

The force knocked the wind from her, and she fell hard, the edge of her skull catching a rock.

Her vision blurred, and she could have sworn she saw Gohan wrestling with the sabertooth before finally passing out.

Videl's heroic shove had simply caught him off guard, but the ensuing action happened too fast for Gohan to react. He felt fully responsible when the mother had sprung from her spot and attacked his friend.

She was just the latest in the long line of friends he'd been unable to save, whether it be due to clumsiness, inadequately preparedness, or weakness.

His vision was starting to see red at this latest failure, but, luckily for the sabertooth tiger, he still maintained his senses enough to not act ruthlessly. He was mad, that much was certain, but unless it was for nourishment, killing was still not on his list of favorite activities.

Gohan shot forward from his spot against the wall of the ravine, immediately putting his body between the beast and Videl. Mr. Satan's daughter may find him incredibly annoying most of the time, but _he _considered her a friend, so he'd do his best to protect her.

Knowing time was of the essence, the Saiyan had little time to ponder whether or not Videl was conscious or not. He needed to end this situation quickly and get her medical help. If some of his deeper, darker secrets were uncovered along the way, then so be it. Saving his friend was more important.

Controlling his varying emotions, Gohan meticulously made his way around the tiger much like Videl had done. Caution was of utmost importance in any situation where a life was in modest danger; the difference, however, is that when the mother lunged at Gohan, he was able to move faster than humanly visible and placed a not-so-delicate chop to the back of the orange cat's neck.

The sabertooth tiger immediately fell unconscious, although definitely still breathing. As far as Gohan was concerned, that was the best case scenario. Now all he had to do was gently move Videl's body to a safe reprieve and perform some first aid.

Spinning around, his breath caught in his throat. She was worse off than he'd thought. Where the tiger had struck her shoulder lay claw marks, blood dripping out. Videl was, fortunately for his secret life's sake, unconscious. She was alive, but could've sustained a concussion from the force her head hit the rock. Plus, even if she doesn't have a concussion, the amount of blood loss she was sustaining certainly was dangerous.

Gohan gingerly cradled her limp form in his arms as he moved her to a safe location. The ravine they currently occupied was too out in the open for his liking; additionally, he still needed to peruse the surrounding area for a substantially hidden cave.

Once Videl was situated nicely, he took off into the sky to survey the vicinity. It didn't take long for him to spot a small cave peeking out around the corner of the nearby mountainside. Gohan mused that the area as a whole looked somewhat familiar to him, though he couldn't pinpoint where from.

He flew back down and picked Videl up, carrying her basket-style in his arms. He then took off towards the small crevice in the mountainside he'd found. The small opening in the jagged rockside was dim as he entered; overall, however, it presented a fine temporary home for the pair.

The ground was coarse and uneven, which made it difficult for Gohan to adequately place the raven-haired teenager down whilst making sure her body wasn't in a disadvantageous position.

Once he was satisfied, he left the cavern and gathered up leaves. Back when he'd been abandoned in the wilderness for a full year during Piccolo's training, Gohan actually had the opportunity to practice his father's trademark healing method.

When he returned, Gohan rolled up the leaves he'd collected and pressed down with moderate force in order to squeeze out as much ointment as he could. When done, he proceeded to pluck some of the cream with his finger and lightly apply it to the wound on his companion's shoulder. She subconsciously winced in her sleep, but otherwise made no move towards waking up, which he was glad for.

He then pressed the leaves on the ointment, creating a makeshift band-aid. It wasn't the most medically sound solution, but it would definitely serve its purpose well in stopping the bleeding. Hopefully her wounds would close on their own as time passed over the next day or so.

Gohan could only imagine the ruckus Hercule Satan would cause if his precious Videl returned to the campsite with a tiger's claw imprinted on her shoulder. It wouldn't go over well, that much was certain.

With his business done, and Videl calmly asleep without cause for concern, the only immediate concern became whether or not she would be disoriented upon waking. Would she show symptoms of post-concussion syndrome?

Maybe that wouldn't be the worst outcome, though. If that were the case, at least it'd mean nobody remembered his hallucinogen episode.

He chose not to ponder what was out of his control, instead opting to lay down on the uncomfortable cave floor and get much-needed rest.

Sitting by his lonesome, Mr. Pestran pondered everything that'd happened in his life recently. His bothersome students weren't the only ones bummed out that they couldn't attend the previously planned field trip.

Who _wouldn't _want to go somewhere famous? He had been looking forward to going to the great Hercule Satan's house too!

"Hey," a voice interrupted his musings. Peering over his shoulder towards the entryway to his cosy cabin, the teacher spied the park ranger scrutinizing him.

"Can I help you?" Multiple broken bones did not necessarily do anything to improve one's attitude towards unwanted guests.

"You look pretty bored here," the ranger commented."Do you want to go to the hot springs or something?"

That... was a quite good-looking alternative to sitting and brooding in this place. "Sure." With that, Mr. Pestran hoisted his body from its sitting position and trailed after his makeshift travel guide. The campgrounds were relatively deserted - which didn't surprise him at all - so the pair trudged along in silence.

"So what made you come out to a place like this, anyhow?" his companion inquired, attempting to strike up friendly conversation.

"It's a long story," the man said with a sigh. "To get directly to the point, my students mocked my bad luck." As he gave the brief explanation, he pointed at the body parts the accident had damaged. "This trip is sort of revenge for that," he finished with a sinister smile adorning his features.

"I see your logic," the park ranger commented, "but there must be more to the story. You seemed like you glossed over some important information. Like how the school would ever sanction a power trip."

Mr. Pestran resented the insinuation that the entire ordeal was about exerting his authority, but his ranger pal - he would have to learn his name soon - _did _bring up some good points. "We already had a scheduled field trip that had to be cancelled because I couldn't chaperone it do to some _unforeseen _circumstances."

"Ah," the other man spoke in understanding, "that makes more sense. Still, though, you sound more upset about missing the first trip than you do excited about torturing your students through this mess. That seems a little weird, to be honest with ya."

"Well, I am here enjoying myself, talking to you, while all of those inconsiderate delinquents are fending for themselves. That's some reason for happiness. By the way, what's your name? I didn't catch it."

"Jack Spielstra."

With a name to place to the park ranger, Mr. Pestran decided he had enough information for the meantime. Was this Jack character right?

Was he simply putting his students through this because of his own disappointment? Sure, the students had provided a legitimate way for him to express how let down he felt, but was that truly fair to them?

He knew how they felt; how many opportunities did one really have to tour Hercule Satan's home, anyway?

Perhaps he'd been a bit rash. Maybe even unfair?

He always heard one of his prized students complain about another one of those teenagers being a large nuisance on her life.

Had he, the example for these delinquents, become the one pestering them rather than the other way around? Had he overstepped his boundaries with this weekend in the wilderness idea?

One thing was for sure, though. He was becoming annoying at his own antics and now wanted to right the ship and fix this matter. He hadn't been kidding about the wildlife, and the last thing needed right now was for a student under his - and Mr. Satan's, technically - watch to suffer a serious injury. What if it were Videl Satan? Her father would have his soul in an instant.

He then decided to stop being hurt by a few offhanded comments from his students, suck it up, stop being annoying, and play the role of the adult.

**That's the chapter folks. Please leave us with your thoughts. **

**For those who are interested, we are a group of collaborative writers who combine our efforts to bring you stores such as this one. We're an open group, meaning that anyone can apply to join. Feel free to check out our forums, our Facebook page, and perhaps apply to join the group via the link on our profile. It's a great opportunity for those who would like to better their own writing abilities and exchange skills of the trade with fellow authors, or to simply be more a part of a writing community.**


End file.
